Friday, 8 July 2016

Brent Central Labour Party GC backs Corbyn's leadership

I understand Brent Central Labour Party General Committee, attended by some of the new young members, last night voted to support Jeremy Corbyn by 50 votes to 16 with one abstention..

This follows the statement below by Dawn Butler, Labour MP for Brent Central, on the leadership issue. Although she voted 'Yes' in the confidence vote I draw your attention to the passage I have put in bold which looks like a possible get out clause for the future. LINK:

This means that at present all three Brent MPs (Barry Gardiner, Tulip Siddiq and Dawn Butler) are backing Corbyn.

Many Brent Central constituents have
recently contacted me concerning the potential leadership challenge within
the Labour Party. I am responding to make clear to you my position as the
Labour MP for Brent Central.

I must start by putting on the record it is
unfortunate that the Labour Party has conducted itself in this way. I have been
so truly shocked by the events that have taken place these past weeks and I
truly regret that we are in the situation we now find ourselves.

Following the EU referendum result, I believe
the country is critically divided and in need of political leadership.

Many constituents have been in touch to ask how
I voted in the ‘no confidence’ motion held recently by the Parliamentary Labour
Party (PLP). The exact question we were asked is ‘Do you have confidence in
Jeremy Corbyn as Leader of the Labour Party?’ to which I voted ‘Yes’.

I voted yes for two reasons.

Firstly, Jeremy Corbyn became Leader
of the Labour Party at a time when the Acting Leader, Harriet Harman, was
trying to force MP’s to vote for some of the most draconian
legislation that this country has ever seen. The attack on the working classes
was palpable and we were supposed to support these measures. I just could not
understand the logic. However since Jeremy Corbyn has become Leader I
have had no such disagreements with the stance he has taken against the Tories
and their legislation. We have fought them at every turn having inflicted heavy
defeats and gained concessions on the Trade Union Bill, Housing & Planning
Bill, Investigatory Powers Bill. The Government have backed down on devolving
Sunday Trading, forced academisation as well as on child refugees in
the Immigration Bill.

Having inflicted all of these defeats on the
Government, we cannot afford now to allow the Conservative Party and the new
Prime Minister free reign in Parliament at such a crucial time. There are
people up and down the country struggling under the Conservatives who need a
Labour Party holding this Government to account.

Secondly, Jeremy Corbyn was
democratically elected as the Leader of the Labour Party with the largest
mandate of any Leader in the history of the Labour Party. However it is
important to note that although Jeremy’s policies are suitable for the Leader
of the Labour Party a Prime Minister does require additional qualities. Any
Leader needs to bring its MP’s and the party as a whole along with
them and I believe we need to be a strong and effective opposition.

There are people in communities up and down
this country who are struggling under this Conservative Government’s savage
cuts to public services and welfare spending who need a united Labour Party
able to hold the new Conservative Prime Minister to account. So too as we seek
to renegotiate our place in Europe following the leave vote in the referendum
we have an obligation to the British people to secure the best deal possible.

In my view Theresa May will likely win the
Conservative leadership race and will be a robust and powerful leader of her
party. The Labour Party cannot be weak and we need all of our Labour MPs working together.

I want to assure you that I am actively speaking to colleagues within
Parliament and the trade unions to try and reach an amicable solution which
keeps the Labour Party together. Whilst I do not know how these events will
unfold in the coming days and weeks I do know that I will continue to argue for
calm and party unity.

5 comments:

Thanks for this, Martin, and — to some extent — Dawn Butler. It is really good that Dawn Butler defeated Tony 'Benefit thieves will have to learn that they will not get away with it' McNulty who announced his candidacy for the Brent Central seat selection in 2013.

I agree that Brent Central is better off with Dawn Butler as its MP than it would have been with the disgraced former Harrow East MP, Tony McNulty, who probably thought it would be a "safe seat" to stand for, as his wife was the Returning Officer!

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